Northern Ireland's friendly in Cyprus on Wednesday is expected to go ahead despite the bombing of a referee's car on the island. All first division matches in Cyprus this weekend have been cancelled but the Irish FA chief executive, Patrick Nelson, said he was confident the match in Nicosia will take place. But he added: "However, we're being sensible … we're keeping our eyes on it."

England's women are also due to play Italy in the Cyprus Cup in Nicosia on the same day, while a friendly between the USA and Ukraine is in doubt again, having been moved to Cyprus away from the eastern European country because of the political situation there.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Pravda report that the country's clubs could be banned from international competitions after the FA was taken over by a militia, believed to be connected to Dynamo Kyiv. Political organisations are banned from interfering with the affairs of football under Fifa regulations.